Control system



March 7, 1944. J. EATON 2,343,648

CONTROL SYSTEM Fiied Nw. 2, 1942 2 sheets-sheer 1 A Inventor: John Eaton,

b9 MM is Attor'rweg.

March 7, 1944. 3. EATON 2,343,648

CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Nov. 2, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet P- Invetor: John Eaton,

His Attorney.

Patented Mar. 7, 1944` CONTROL SYSTEM Y John Eaton, Schenectady, N. Y., assigner u Geaeral Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application November 2, 1942, Serial No. 464,220

" (ci. .frz-94) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to the control of textile machinery such as spinning frames and the like,

and it has for an object the provision of a simple, reliable and improved means for varying the speed of the driving motor in accordance with the movement of the ring rail of the spinning :nachine so as to maintain the tension of the yarn substantially constant.

A ring spinning frame is provided with a mechanism known as a builder mechanism for reciprocating the ring rail in such a manner as to build the bobbin according to` one of a number of known bobbin winds. 'I'his builder mechanism is usually built in the frame at one end thereof which is referred to as the head" end. For

, reasons pertaining to the manufacture, operation and convenience for repair of spinning frames, the driving motor is usually mounted at the opposite or "foot end of the frame. Heretofore, in variable speed spinning frames, it has been l found necessary to mo'unt the controller or device for varying the speed of the motor at the end of the frame to provide for its actuation by the` builder mechanism with a minimum installation expenditure.

A modern spinning frame may be 40 feet or more in length. Thus, with the rheostat mounted at one end of the frame and the motor at the other, a cable containing three large size copper conductors extending the full length of the frame has been required to connect the rheostat with the slip rings of the motor. The elimination of these long lengths of expensive cable results in a very substantial saving.

Accordingly, a further object of this invention is the provision of suitable means for actuating the speed control device in response to movement derived from the movement of the ring rail or its actuating member at the foot end of the frame so that the speed controlling device can be mount- I ed at the end of the frame at which the motor is mounted, with consequent elimination of expensive cable extending the full length of the frame.

More specifically, the invention relates to spinning frames in which the yarn is wound on the bobbin in the form of a warp wind. This invention is a modification of the invention disclosed and claimed in U. S. Patent 2,303,112, and assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of the present invention.

In warp wind, at the beginning of the spinning and winding process, the builder arm slowly moves the ring rail up and down' from a point at the bottom of the bobbin to a predetermined point at the top of the bobbin. The me of speedl of traverse is uniform in each direction. This is determined by the shape of the builder cam which effects the movement of the builder arm. In the case of warp wind, it is known as e. l\ eari. shaped cam or an even throw cam.' As each su@` cessive traverse of the ring rail is made, the effective length of the builder arm is shortened, there by making the length of each successive traverse shorter.

It is, therefore an object of the invention to provide means at the motor end of the frame which is responsive to reciprocation of the mem, ber which reciprocates the ring rail of aspinning frame for warp'wind, to vary the speed of the motor which drives the spinning frame in accordance with increasing diameter of the bobbin.

In carrying the invention into effect in one form thereof, a rheostat is provided at the motor end of the frame for varying the speed of the motor. A ratcheting device is provided which has a pawl member which advances from each position on a cooperatin'gtoothed member only in response to a plurality of reciprocations of the ring rail actuating member, i. e. the wave shaft. Means responsive to each advance of the pawl are provided for actuating the rheostat to increase the speed of the motor with increasing diameter ofthe bobbin and maintaining the speed of the motor constant throughout each traverse of the ring rail.

For a better and more4 complete understanding f of the invention, reference should now be had to the following specification and'to the accom-1 panying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a simple, diagrammatical illustration of an embodiment of the invention in perspective; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view in section of a warp wound bobbin; Figs. 3 and 4 are views in elevation of details of the invention; and Figs. 5, 6 and '1 are diagrammaticvviews which illustrate the positions and movements of the pawi of the 'speed controlling: ratcheting device in advancing from one position to another on the toothed member.

Referring now to the drawings, only the essem tial parts/of the spinning frame directly cooperat ing with the speed varying means are shown. In the machine illustrated, the spindle i0 is fixed in position, while the ring rail l l is oscillated axially of the spindle as the winding operation progresses. As far as is known, all present-day commercial spinning frames have this relative arrangement of spindle and ring rails, but obviously this arrangement might be reversed with the ring rail stationary and the spindle given a correspending movement. Consequently, any reference in this specication or in the annexed claims to movement of the ring rail is to be understood as a relative movement of the ring rail and spindle.

For the purpose of simplifying the drawings, the ring rail is shown as being operated in a conventional manner by means of a lever I2 mounted on a cross shaft I3. The lever I2 is connected to the lower end of a lifter rod I4, the upper end of which is secured to the ring rail. The cross shaft I3 carries a weight I 3awhich tends to rotate the cross shaft in a direction to raise the ring rail, and the lever I2 is moved against the force of the weight by means of a member I5 which extends lengthwise of the spinning frame from one end thereof to the other.

This member is usually referred to as the wave shaft. One end of the wave shaft I5 is connected to one end of a chain'l which passes over a pulley I1 to the end of an arcuate-shaped short rack I3 to which it is attached by suitable fastening means. This arcuate-shaped rack comprises one element f the builder mechanism which is indicated generally by the reference character I3. This builder mechanism is of a well-known commercial type and comprises a builder arm 20 pivoted at 2I and mounted to be Aengaged by a builder cam 22.

The spindle I0 and the builder mechanism are both driven by suitable driving means illustrated as an alternating Icurrent induction motor 23 of the wound rotor type. As illustrated, the motor 23 is mounted at the foot end of the machine which is the opposite end from that at which the builder mechanism is located. T'he motor drives a large cylinder 24 through a belt connection 23, and the spindles are driven from the drive cylinder 24 by means of tapes (not shown). The builder cam at the head end of the machine is driven from the cylinder 24 by means of gearing in the end casing 23.

In order to provide for the necessary shortening of the amplitude of reciprocation of the wave shaft I to `produce the necessary progressive shortening of the traverse of the ring rail, means are provided for shortening the effective length of the builder arm 20. This is accomplished by means of a worm gear 21 which engages the teeth of the arcuate-shaped rack I3. This worm 21 is mounted on a worm.. shaft 23 which is rotatably Journaled in bearings on the builder arm and provided with a ratchet wheel 29 arranged to cooperate witha pawl 23a to move the rack I3 inwardly a predetermined amount each time that the builder arm 20 is oscillated about its pivot 2|. Thus, it is seen that the builder arm constitutes an element of the machine which oscillates in accordance with therelative oscillatory movement between the ring rail and the spindle. and that the rack I3 which is moved inward one step each time that a, forward and return layer is wound on the spindle, constitutes an element of the machine which is progressively movable in accordance with'the increasing diameter oi' the bobbin. Consequently, the wave shaft I5 which is mounted for longitudinal movement, reciprocates once for each rotation of the builder cam and effects a raising and lowering of the ring rail for each reciprocation.

The principal function of the builder mechanlsm is to decrease the effective length of the builder arm each time that the builder arm oscillates, thereby progressively to change both the limits of relative oscillatory movements and the amplitude of this movement and thereby progres.-

sively to change the limits and amplitude of traverse of the ring rail.

The speed of the motor 23 is controlled by means of a rheostat having resistors 30a. 30h, and 3|lc connected in the secondary circ'uit of the motor together with a rotatable contact member 3| having three arms for varying the effective amount of the resistors. A spring 32 serves to bias the contact member 3| to the high speed position in which the entire amount of resistance of each of the resistors 30a, 30h and 30e is short circuited and is adapted to be operated from that position in a clockwise direction as viewed in the drawings by means of a chain 33, one end Vof which is secured to a drum 34 and the other end of which is secured to the extremity of a crank arm 35 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 36 for rotation on the shaft as a pivot. The shaft 36 is connected by means of sprockets 31 and 33 and a connecting chain 33 and a crank mechanism 40 to the wave shaft I5. The ratio of the chain and the sprocket gearing 31, 33, and 33 is so chosen that a radial arm 4I which is secured to the shaft 3B will be rotated forward and backward through a suitable angle, e. g., approximately 360 degrees for the first complete reciprocation of the wave shaft, and thus for the first complete relative oscillation of the ring rail and spindle. At the end which is opposite to the point of attachment of the chain 33. the crank arm 35 is bent at right angles to the plane of rotation of the crank to form a projection 35a which is in a position to be struck by the rotating arm 4| as the arm 4I nears the limit of its rotation in a clockwise direction. This end of the crank arm 35 is provided with a slot 35h and a recess 35e which receive the pins 42 and 43 of a triangular shaped pawl carrying member 44. This triangular shaped pawl carrying member 44 comprises two plates 44a and 44b which are separated from each other to receive the pawl 43 to which they are attached by suitable fastening means. The front plate 44h is omitted in Fig. 1 and in Figs. 3 and 4, it is shown broken away to reveal the details of the pin and slot connections of the pawl carrying member 44 to the end of the crank arm 35.

The spring 32 places the chain 33 under tension and this tension tends to rotate the crank 35 in a counterclockwise direction, thereby to force the pawl 45 into engagement with the vstationary arcuate-shaped toothed vmember 4i. For the purpose of lifting the pawl 45 out of engagement with the toothed member 46 when the tension of the spring 32 is relieved, the crank arm 35 is provided with a spring 41 which is attached to the crank arm 35 and is flexed about the hub of the crank arm 35 and at its opposite end, the spring 41 bears against a projection Mc of the pawl carrying member 44, thereby biasing 4the pawl carrying member in a counterclockwise dlrection about the pin 43. However, the force of the spring 41 is insufficient to lift the pawl 45 out of engagement with the toothed member 46 against the tension of spring 32 until the arm 4I on clockwise movement strikes the projection 35a of the crank and relieves the pressure against the pawl carrying member 44.

With the foregoing understanding of the elements and their organization in the system, the operation of the system itself will readily be understood from the following detailed .descripion.

The roving yarn is led from the roving spool 48 through the usual draft rollers 43, and thence .t... aus...

assaon through the wire guide eye to the bobbin ll.- When the bobbin is empty and the ring raiiis at the bottom oi' its traverse,I the pawl 4I, the

movable contact member 3| of the rheostat. will' occupy the positions in which they are illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. vSince the rheostat contact arm 3| is in the low speed position. the spinning frame will be driven at low speed at this initial stage of the operation. The rotation of the builder cam 22'aliowsthe weight Ila to raise the ring rail to wind the first layer on the empty bobbin. During this first traverse of the ring rail, the wave shaft I5 is moved to the left by the downward counterclockwise rotation of the weight Ila. and this movement of the wave shaft causes the crank mechanism 40 to rotate the drive sprocket 34| and through the chain 3l the driven sprocket "and the shaft 35 to which the driven sprocket 31 is fined.

The rotation of the shaft rotates the radial arm 4| from the dotted position illustrated in Fig. 3 in a clockwise direction until, when the ring rail reaches a point near the upper extremity of its travel, the radial arm 4l strikes the projection 35u of the crank arm 35.' As the ring rail continues its upward traverse toward its extreme upper limit, the radial arm 4l, now bearing against the crank arm 35, rotates the crank 35 in a clockwise'dlrection thereby vapplying a downward pull to the chain 33 and rotating the drum 34 and th contact arm 3| of the rheostat in a clockwise direction. As illustrated, the contacts of the rheostat at the low speed point are elongated so that the movable contact ,arm 3l does not open the circuit of the secondary winding of the motor 23.while the ring rail is cornpleting its upward traverse.

The relative positions of the parts of the ratcheting mechanism at the instant that the radial arm strikes the projection 35a of the crank 35 is illustrated in Fig. 3 and the position of the pawl 45 in the firs tooth at this instant is illustrated in the enla ring rail continues its upward traverse, the radial arm 4i continues in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 3. At this point the radial arm 4| inengaging the crank 35 removes the pressure of the spring 32 from the pawl 45.

ed view in Fig. 5. As the and consequently, the spring 41 which is biased about the hub of the crank 35 rotates the pawl carrier 44 in a counterclockwise direction about the pin 43 as a pivot until the lower crossbar of the spring 41 engages the arm of the crank 35 which carries the pawl carrier 44. This rotation of the pawl carrier lifts the pawl out of the first tooth. The pawl carrier then drops in the slot 35h from the position illustrated in Fig. 3 to the position illustrated in Fig. A4 with the pawl 45 in the second tooth. The relationship of the pawl 45 and the teeth of the rack' member 4l is illustrated in the enlarged view in Fig. 5 which shows the pawl 45 bearing againstthe second tooth. As the ring rail approaches its upper limit, the radial arm 4| continues to move the crank 35 in a clockwise directionand this carries the pawl 45 out of the second tooth and back into the first tooth. At the limit of the upward traverse of the ring rail, the pawl 45 comes to rest in the first tooth in the position indicated by the dotted line a as illustrated ln Fig. 1.

At this point in the operation the builder cam 22 has reached the position inwhich its high point engages the `builder arm 2l. As the rotation of the builder cam continues the wave shaft I5 begins to move to the right to initiate the downward traverse of the ring rail Il. The movement of the wave shaft to the right rotates the radial arm 4| in a counterclockwise direction and allows the 'tension of the spring 32 to pull upward on the chain 33 and rotate the crank 35 in a counterclockwise direction to seat the pawl 45 in its original position against the first tooth as illustrated in Fig. 5. Since the pawl 4l isv seated against the first tooth. the spring' 32 cannot `rotate the rheostat arm 3| beyond its low speed position and consequently,'thly,l speed of the motor 23 remains'at the lowest'` speed value as the downward trerse o f the ring rail proceeds.

Also during nrst complete traverse of the ring rail, the pawl 25a advances the ratchet wheel 2l one step and thereby moves the arcuateshaped rack I8 inward and thereby shortens the effective length ofthe builder armk 20.' As a result of the decrease of the effective length of the builder arm, the ring rail does not return to its initial position and consequently, the second layer on the bobbin ends at a point above the bottom of the iirst layer. As a result, the beginning of a taper will be formed at the lower end of the bobbin and, since the effective length of the builder arm 2l has been shortened, the next upward traverse of thering rail will be correspondingly shortened so that.A the beginning of a taper will also be wound at the top of the bobbin. hisondition is illustrated diagrammatically in The operation of the apparatusduring the second upward traverse of the ring rail is the same as that described for the first upward traverse with the exception that when the pawl 45 is pulled away from the second tooth after the radial arm 4I strikes the projection 35a of the crank, the pawl 45 does not come to rest at the position indicated by the dotted line a in Fig. '7 as it did at the end of the first upward traverse, but instead, comes to rest at a somewhat lower point indicated by the dotted line b in Fig. 6, owing to the shortened traverse of the wave shaft I5 which results from the shortened effective length of the builder arm 20.

The upward and downward traverses of continuously decreasing amplitude of the ring rail continue with the pawl 45 stopping at progressively lower positions when it is withdrawn from the second tooth to the first tooth at the end of the upward traverse of the ring rail as indicated by the dotted lines c, d, e, f, and g in Fig. 7.

On the next upward traverse of. the ring rail the reciprocation of the wave shaft l5 will have been shortened to such an extent by the progressive shortening of the effective length of the builder arm that the pawl 45 will not be withdrawn from the tooth 2 at the upper limit of ring rail traverse, but instead, will come to rest in the second tooth in the DOsitlon indicated by the dotted line a' in Fig. 7. Then when the next downward traverse of the ring rail begins,v the pawl 45 will be forced by the spring32 to seat against the second tooth in the position indicated in Figs. 4 and 6. As a result, the spring 32 can rotate' the contact arm 3i of the rheostat an l amount corresponding to one tooth on the arcu-A ate-shaped tooth member 46, thereby to increase the speed of the motor 23 to a value correspondlng to the diameter' of the yarn wound on the bobbin after the number of traverses of the ring rail required to advance the pawl 45 one tooth on the arcuate-shaped member 46. .l

As the winding operation progresses, the foregoing operation is repeated until at full bobbin.

'controlled by the advance of the pawl 45 is advanced to the last tooth at the right-hand end of the arcuate-shaped member 6 and the spring 35 has rotated the contact arm 3| of the rheostat to a position in which all of the resistance oi' the resistors 30a, Mib, and 30o is short circuited and the trame driving motor 23 is driving the spinning frame at maximum speed. i

From the foregoing, it will be seen that as the winding progresses from empty bobbin to full bobbin, the limits of movement of the wave shaft I and the limits of traverse of the ring rail are progressively changed and their amplitude progressively shortened. It will also be noted that the ratcheting mechanism responds to advance the pawl l5 one tooth of the arcuate shaped member in response to a plurality of traverses of the ring rail. This makes it possible to construct the rheostat with a much lesser number of speed points than the number of layers of yarn which are wound on the bobbin.

Although in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, this invention is described as embodied in concrete form and the principle thereof has been described together with the best -mode in which it is now contemplated applying that, principle, it will be understood that the apparatus shown and described is merely illustrative and that the invention is not limited thereto, since alterations and modifications will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit of this invention or from the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A control system for a ring spinning machine comprising an electric driving motor at one end of said machine, a member extending lengthwise of the machine for effecting relative oscillation of the ring rail and spindle, a builder mechanism at 4,the opposite end of the frame for reciprocating said member between progressively varying limits of travel, a rheostat mounted at said one end of said frame with said motor for controlling the speed of said motor, meahs for varying the speed of said motor in accordance with the progressively increasing diameter of the bobbin comprising mechanical connections between said reciprocating member and said rheostat including a. pawl and tooth device responsive to a. plurality of reciprocations oi said member for advancing said pawl one tooth, and means said pawls for vary ing said rheostat.

2. A control system for a ring spinning machine comprising an electric motor at one end of the machine, a member extending lengthwise oi.' the machine mounted forl reciprocating movement to effect relative oscillation of the ring rail and spindle, a builder mechanism at the opposite end of the machine for reciprocating said member through progressively decreasing amplitudes be tween progressively changing limits, a rheostat mounted at said one end of said machine for controlling the speed of said motor, and means for progressively increasing the speed of said motor in accordance with the progressively increasing diameter of the bobbin comprising mechanical connections between said reciprocating member and said rheostat including a ratcheting mechanism having a pawl and means responsive to a plurality of reciprocations ol' said reclproeating member for advancing said pawl one tooth on said ratcheting mechanism and means respon sive'to said advance ot said pawl for varying said rheostat.

3. A control system for a ring Spinning machine comprising an electric motor at one end of the machine, a member extending lengthwise of the machine mounted i'or reciprocating movement to eilect relative oscillation of the ring rail and spindle, a builder mechanism at the opposite end of the machine for reciprocating said mem ber through progressively decreasing amplitudes between progressively changing limits, a rheostat mounted at said one end of said machine tor controlling the speed of said motor, and means for progressively increasing the speed of said motor in accordance with the progressively increasing diameter of the bobbin comprising mechanical connections between said reciprocating member and said rheostat including a mechanism comprising a stationary arcuate-shaped member provided with a plurality of teeth, a movable pawl cooperating with said member. means actuated by said reciprocating member for advancing said pawl only in response to a plurality of reciprocations of progressively diminishing amplitude and means responsive to said advance of said pawl for varying said rheostat.

'4. A control system-for a ring spinning machine having an electric driving motor at one end oi the machine, a member extending longitudinally of the machine mounted for recipro eating movement and connected to effect relative reciprocating movement of the ring rail and spindle, a builder mechanism at the opposite end of the machine for reciprocating said member at progressively decreasing amplitude between progressively changing limits of travel, a rheostat. mounted at the motor end oi' said frame for controlling the speed of said motor, means for varying the speed of said motor in accordance with the progressively increasing diameter of the bobbin comprising a ratcheting device having a member provided with a plurality of teeth, a rotatably mounted arm, and a pawl having a pin and slot connection to said arm, a mechanical connection between said arm and said rheostat and a rstspring biasing said rheostat to the low speed position and biasing said arm to force said pawl into engagement with said toothed member, a rotatably mounted member driven by said reciprocatingmember for engaging said arm to oppose the bias of said spring, and a second spring mounted on said arm for releasing said pawl from engagement with said toothed member and moving said pawl to a new position on said toothed member thereby to permit said first spring to move said rheostat to increase the speed of said motor.

JOHN EATON. 

